Unholy matrimony
By Jeremy Reynalds
web posted August 20, 2001
According to the Associated Press, John DiIulio, director of the
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community plans to
leave his post as soon as a transition team is formed.
According to media accounts, as he announced his departure,
DiIulio, a Democrat and an academic, touted a report he put
together as a major accomplishment of his short tenure. The
report released Thursday assessed the barriers faced by religious
groups in applying for federal funding.
The White House report argues that federal officials routinely
discriminate against faith based groups when allotting government
grants and that in so doing they take the separation of church and
state too far.
In the report, the White House argues that federal officials
already have everything in place that they need to give to faith
based organizations but they still act as if they do not.
"It is not Congress but these overly restrictive agency rules that
repressive, restrictive and which actively undermine the
established civil rights of these groups," the report concludes.
However, that assertion is a matter of much debate and far from
settled. The faith-based initiative has been blasted by both
conservatives and liberals alike, who oppose, but for different
reasons, the funding of federal dollars to faith-based ministries..
Liberals such as Barry Lynn of the Americans United for the
Separation of Church and State hate the plan, concerned that
successful passage of the initiative would end up being a violation
of the constitutional separation of church and state.
Lynn had tough words to say in a press release available on the
organization's web site. He said that the report "misreads"
Supreme Court decisions on church and state and could result in
a lawsuit if it is "recklessly implemented. "If the Bush
administration tries to change federal regulations and fund
religion, we will immediately file suit in federal court," said Lynn.
"When Bush talks about removing ‘barriers' to funding religion,
it's clear he wants to bulldoze the wall that separates church and
state. Taxpayers must never be forced to support religions they
don't believe in."
Lynn added that he doesn't blame DiIulio for leaving, "but I wish
he'd take the faith-based initiative with him."
Conservatives like myself and others are concerned that
government funding would lead to a watering down of the gospel
message that makes faith based ministries so effective. And
apparently with good reason. During negotiations over the
legislation, DiIulio agreed that religious groups that preach or try
to convert people should not be eligible for direct government
grants.
Media reports have pointed out that DiIulio is leaving at a vital
time for the faith based initiative. Although it passed the House
recently with a 233-198 vote it faces a rocky road in the Senate
where it has yet to find a Democratic sponsor.
As founder and executive director of New Mexico's largest
emergency homeless shelter (and speaking personally, a
conservative social and fiscal Republican as well as a Bush
supporter), I am nonetheless totally opposed to the plan.
Even though according to media reports Bush told some religious
leaders in a private meeting recently in Albuquerque that his plan
is entirely voluntary, so "if it doesn't perform you don't need to
be a part of the system," there is nonetheless a real temptation
for struggling faith based ministries to back the initiative and take
government funds, all the while believing that they would be able
to continue preaching the gospel without any interference.
That, my friend, just isn't going to happen. As I explained in a
previous article, let me reiterate yet again why it's time for the
President's plan to die and why it is risky business for the very
organizations it purports to help.
To show you how bad it is, let me explain by using some of the
points made by the liberal Americans United for the Separation
of Church and State; a group with which I have many serious
points of contention.
Just in case you'd never heard of them before, Americans United
(AU) is according to the group's web site, " a religious liberty
watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947,
the organization (claims to) represents 70,000 members and
allied houses of worship in all 50 states."
When the initiative passed the House, the AU immediately
threatened a lawsuit, saying "This bill joins church and state in
unholy matrimony," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive
director of Americans United. "If the Bush initiative becomes
law, we'll go to court and file for divorce."
And as I mentioned above but it is so important that it is
important to reiterate the point here that as part of the
negotiations over the legislation, faith-based groups will be
unable to require religious activities in their programs if they
receive government funding. That, folks, is what the very essence
of a faith-based ministry is all about.
Those of us who run faith-based ministries are not social
reformers or agency heads, we are ministry leaders with a divine
calling who believe that proclaiming the life changing power of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ embodies the very essence of who we
are and what we do.
For those of you who maybe question the accuracy of my
information, this issue was issue was brought before a House
Judiciary Subcommittee on June 7, where a Justice Department
attorney representing the White House was asked if a faith-
based group would be allowed to take funds under the Bush
plan and still hold religious activities? According to a report on
the AU web site, the attorney ‘s answer was "no."
This appeared to be a real about-face for the Bush
administration, but an inevitable one nonetheless. Allowing
Christian faith based groups to receive government funding and
continue with their religious programs seemed a great way to
generate lawsuits, if not from individual clients being assisted by
the faith based groups, most certainly from organizations such as
Americans United and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Not surprisingly, back in June Lynn was quick to comment on
the Bush administration's apparent flip flop, calling it "a major
departure from the Bush administration's past stance (and one
that means the White House) "is either in full retreat or complete
disarray ... In the past, the president and his allies have insisted
that religious groups get funding without sacrificing their religious
character. Now Bush's people seem to be saying religious
groups must drop all religious activity if they get public funds.
Which is it?"
Good question; which indeed? If the legislative uncertainty wasn't
enough of a good reason for turning down government monies,
here's another good reason. Lynn correctly observes that faith
based ministries opting for government funding are in effect
providing an open invitation for the government to regulate their
religion. That's because the government is obligated to regulate
everything that it funds.
As Lynn commented, "Once churches, temples, mosques and
synagogues are being financed by the public, some of their
freedom will be placed in jeopardy by the almost certain
regulation to follow. Houses of worship that have flourished as
private institutions may suddenly have their books audited or
face regular spot checks by federal inspectors in order to ensure
appropriate ‘accountability.'"
Faith based "ministries" desiring federal intrusion should go ahead
and take government funding. The faith-based element of their
program will quickly become as extinct as the dinosaur. Those
wanting to maintain and even increase their faith- based
distinctive might consider doing what we have done and are
continuing to do at Joy Junction.
Firstly, we have never taken and have no plans to ever take
government funding or do anything that might jeopardize the
evangelical Christian underpinning upon which Joy Junction is
built.
Secondarily, we are beginning to turn away any offers of
volunteer help for our guests that are opposed to our Christian
philosophy. Some of you may recall, a few months ago we
turned down an approximately $1200.00 gift that was raised by
a gay group that decided to stage a drag show. While we exist to
help the homeless, we do in conformity with basic Christian
principles. We felt that such activities undermined the very
essence of our existence.
Soon after, we changed the on-site medical providers for our
guests at Joy Junction, from a group that while offering excellent
medical care held viewpoints that were incompatible with ours,
to a volunteer doctor and his team that minister spiritually while
they are assisting medically.
Additionally, while the local school district offers an excellent
after school tutoring program for homeless kids, it is based upon
secular humanistic philosophy and sometimes espouses
viewpoints that are incompatible with evangelical Christianity. As
soon as enough qualified individuals of our faith persuasion come
forward, we will move from the secular program to one that
embraces an evangelical perspective.
And so the list goes on. Our philosophy will be that we want to
provide the very best care and assistance for our guests. There
will always be shelter, food and Bible study. Also included
amongst a variety of other important skills being taught might be
maintenance, computer skills, resume writing, lessons in how to
balance a check and dressing for success.
But emphasized in the teaching as the foundational building block
upon which all of these skills should be based will be the
necessity of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. At Joy
Junction (along with President Bush) we believe that faith
expressed in both word and action is the most important key
toward getting back on one's feet again. Those faith-based
ministries electing to take government funding will have to decide
whether they still believe that.
Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and
director of Joy Junction (http://www.joyjunction.org/), New
Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's
degree in communication from the University of New Mexico
and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola
University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work can be viewed
here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He may be
contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org.
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